Preludes to tragedy: Wilykat and WilyKit
by Dr Facer
Summary: WilyKit and WilyKat dreamed of a brilliant future in Lion-O's kingdom; but on the night Mumm-Ra conquered New Thundera, their dreams turned suddenly into a nightmare that would forever change them. *One shot related to Embracing Dark Desires


Disclaimer: Thundercats and all related character don't belong to me.

Preludes to tragedy,

WilyKat and WilyKit: At the threshold of darkness.

By

Dr Facer

0-0-0

WilyKat stared at the steaming cup he held in his hands and sniffed warily at its contents. He felt immediately repulsed by the smell of the purple tea he was supposed to drink, as it was simply too strong and spicy for his tastes. The child looked up at Pummyra, who had prepared the beverage to help him recover, and tried his best to look like he already felt better. The expression on the medic's face made it clear that this ploy hadn't worked.

"I'm not leaving until you drink at least half of it, WilyKat," the Thundercat doctor stated. "Given what you told us I'm sure the fumes from Mumm-Ra's pyramid affected you, so please drink it. If you wait until your body recovers on its own you'll have stomach cramps and trouble breathing for several days."

"What was in those fumes?" asked WilyKit. She was sitting on a chair near the window, and had been there ever since Lion-O brought her twin back.

"The blood test I did showed traces of Thundrainium," Pummyra revealed. "I'm sure the reason why Kat was the only one affected is because he spent the most time inside the wizard's pyramid."

"Thundrainium… what would the bag of bones want that for?" Kit wondered.

"Probably as a weapon against Lion-O and the others; perhaps he was preparing a trap and didn't get to finish it before our friends saved WilyKat," the medic speculated. "Who knows?"

"Yeah, who knows?" Kit agreed.

"Are you sure this will help me feel better?" WilyKat cut in then, still looking at the cup with slight disdain. "It smells… funny."

"Yes, it will. The tea made of the Hollowtree roots is a great way to counter low-level Thundrainium poisoning. I've used it before," Pummyra assured. "It smells worse than it tastes, give it a try, Kat."

Nodding the male twin held his breath and took a sip of the foul-smelling liquid. To his surprise the taste was sweet and similar to that of the candy-fruit Snarf always gave him and his sister. Kat stared in amazement at Pummyra and smiled. "It does taste good!"

"I told you; make sure you drink it all, ok?" she asked while caringly running her fingers through the boy's hair. "And try to sleep afterwards; you will recover faster if you do."

Confident that WilyKat would finish the tea, Pummyra offered the twins one last smile and left the room to report to the other Thundercats, and also to update Kat's file on her medical records.

"Do you really think Mumm-Ra was going to use the Thundrainium as a trap?" Kat wondered after he finished his tea.

"Maybe, you were there and I wasn't, so I can't tell. Did he say something about it to you?" WilyKit inquired.

"No, he didn't. He actually tried to be… friendly with me?" WilyKat recalled, having trouble putting the mummy's name and the term friendly in the same sentence.

"Friendly? That sack of dirty bandages?" WilyKit shuddered. "I don't know if the idea is funny or disturbing… no, wait, I think it completely gives me the creeps."

"Agreed on that, sister," WilyKat said. "So, Thundrainium as a trap is our best bet then, huh?"

"Yep, it's the only one that makes sense," she concurred with a nod.

Little did the children know that Mumm-Ra's reason for having Thundrainium in the Black Pyramid was to use it as part of the spell he needed to bring a certain ghost warrior back from death; but since they didn't realize this all they could do was to entertain themselves speculating.

"Anyway, thanks for telling Lion-O about what happened so quickly, sis!" Kat offered. "You shoulda been there, Lion-O was just so cool!"

WilyKit smiled and sat on her twin's bed. "You're welcome, Kat. So… why don't you tell me what Lion-O did? All I know is that he and the others defeated Mumm-Ra. But that's not enough, I want all the details!"

And so WilyKat told her sister how Lion-O had kept Mumm-Ra busy while Panthro went for the mummy's sarcophagus and Cheetara rescued him from the cage he had been trapped in. Kat, however, embellished his recollection with plenty of extra details which made the young king look completely unstoppable.

"So that's what happened…" Kit smiled approvingly at her brother's tale. "Lion-O is incredible… I already knew he was, of course, but did he really cut Mumm-Ra's sword in half?"

"Sure did!" Kat exclaimed while stifling a yawn. He had suddenly started to feel incredibly sleepy, but the excitement of retelling Lion-O's battle brought him back to attention. "I was there and it was the most amazing thing I've seen, Lion-O attacked with the Sword of Omens and BANG! The Sword of Plundarr was history!"

"He's very strong, isn't he?" Kit closed her eyes as she recalled the gentle way Lion-O had held her earlier in the day to comfort her after she told him about WilyKat's kidnapping. "But… he can be so kind when he wants to."

"What… did you say?" WilyKat managed to say while yawning again, losing the brief rush talking about the king had given him. "Strange… I'm feeling very sleepy, can't keep eyes… open…"

"It must be the tea, Kat. Why don't you sleep? I'm sure you'll be fine tomorrow." WilyKit reassured him. The girl was grateful that Pummyra's medicine was making Kat this sleepy; if her brother had listened to what she had said about Lion-O, he would have teased her about it for weeks!

"Yeah… must be the tea…"

Too sleepy to counter his sister's idea with a remark about being able to stay awake, Kat simply turned to the side and closed his eyes. He fell asleep almost instantly.

"G'night, WilyKat; get well soon," WilyKit whispered as she covered her brother with a blanket. She left the room soon after that, relieved that her twin would be alright. She didn't want to even remember the uncertainty she had felt while waiting for Lion-O and the others to come back from the Pyramid.

Lion-O's face appeared in the girl's thoughts and she welcomed him with a smile. She was still not sure about when she had started looking at the young king differently but she thought it had started shortly after the lion had defeated Pyron and restored the planet. He had stood in front of them all and had been so enthusiastic and full of happiness that she couldn't help but look at him in awe.

That had been months ago and the fact that she had started liking Lion-O more and more had not escaped her, but she thought it was simply admiration and loyalty for the man who had restored their world and conquered everything evil had thrown his way. She had been content with that, but today he had held her close to him and had looked at her with worried eyes while swearing that he would save WilyKat. And he had kept his promise. He had brought WilyKat back. He had done that for her… _just for her_.

It made her feel special, and she just knew she had to do something nice for him to repay the huge favor he had done for her. But she didn't know what she could do and, no matter how much she tried, she couldn't think of anything special enough.

WilyKit was so distracted thinking about this that she didn't notice the person who turned around the corner of the hallway, and gasped in surprise when her bowed head hit Cheetara's firm torso.

"Sorry, I wasn't looking," she apologized while rubbing her nose.

"Don't worry, WilyKit. I wasn't really paying attention either, we should have both been more careful," the adult admitted. "Say, how's your brother?"

"He's sleeping. Pummyra gave him something to make him feel better. She said he'll be alright tomorrow," Kit explained.

"And you?" the cheetah asked. "Where were you going?"

"To see Lion… to the control room! I'm going to the control room, yes, that's it!" Kit caught her tongue before admitting what she wanted to do and instead tried to cover it with the first thing she could think of, ardently hoped Cheetara would buy her excuse.

"I see. Lion-O is not there, though," Cheetara smiled at the girl, tenderly amused at the way she flushed once she heard the king's name. Was WilyKit already entering that age? She had never reacted like this while talking about Lion-O before. "He's having a closed-door meeting with Panthro and Bengali. It'll probably end in an hour or so."

"Lion-O has nothing to do with this, honest!" Kit complained weakly. "I just wanted to see if you guys had something for me to do and…"

"We can tell you that tomorrow, sweetie," Cheetara smiled. "Besides, it's late and right now it's best if you try to get some sleep. You weren't captured by Mumm-Ra, but you did have a very stressful day. A good night of rest will do wonders for you. Trust me."

"But I wanted to…"

"I'll walk with you to your room," the adult offered. "I've got the feeling you want to talk about something, don't you?"

The girl fidgeted. "Maybe…"

"Then come, let's walk and don't worry, I can keep you company for a while and I promise not to tell anyone whatever you tell me. Deal?"

"…Ok, I-I guess I can tell you, Cheetara."

By the time the two Thunderian females had reached the twins' bedroom, Cheetara had already listened to Kit's intentions of thanking Lion-O for rescuing her brother, and how she felt troubled because she couldn't think of anything nice to do for him in return.

"…And that's the problem," WilyKit sighed and sat on her bed. "Lion-O rescued WilyKat when I asked for his help. He promised me he would and he saved Kat… and now I want to do something to show him how grateful I am and… I probably sound stupid, right?"

Cheetara sat next to WilyKit and reached out to give the girl's hand a reassuring squeeze. "No, of course you don't. Please, don't worry too much about this, Kit. I'm sure Lion-O knows how grateful you are and will appreciate anything you do to thank him."

"A-are you sure?" Kit asked, suddenly feeling slightly nervous; she really wanted to do something Lion-O would like.

"Yes, I am," the cheetah promised. "And if you need help you can ask me, I'd be glad to lend a hand."

"Ah… thank you Cheetara, but that might not be necessary," Kit refused politely. "I think I want to do this alone."

"I understand, but I'll be there if you change your mind."

"I know, thank you."

"You're welcome," the older female said while she motioned the girl to get under the covers. "It's past your bedtime, Kit; go to sleep. I'm sure you'll have an easier time deciding what you want to do once you've rested."

"You think so?" Kit asked, hoping Cheetara would let her stay up a little longer. When the older Thundercat nodded and held the blanket up, the girl understood that the cheetah would not accept a negative answer. "Fine, I'll try."

"Good," Cheetara said while tucking Kit in; once the girl was comfortable, the cheetah followed an impulse and softly caressed her face. It wasn't often that the older Thundercat had the opportunity to express to WilyKit how much she actually cared for her, and she was glad to take these little chances whenever she had them. "Sleep well, dear."

Saying this the cheetah walked to the door, but Kit calling her stopped her before she could exit the room.

"Cheetara… can I ask you a question?" Kit called.

"Sure, what is it?"

"Do you think Lion-O…" WilyKit paused and the cheetah felt a surge of tenderness go through her as she saw how Kit hid half her face under the covers. "Do you think he… likes me?"

"Of course WilyKit," Cheetara paused and looked at the young girl with a small smile. "I'm sure he likes you very much."

And the older Thundercat turned off the light and left the room.

0-0

A pair of voices, not too loud, but loud enough and right outside her door awakened WilyKit. She sat up and took a second to identify the people who were arguing in the hallway. Panthro and Bengali, she realized; what were they talking about? The girl strained her ears and any trace of tiredness she might have felt vanished when she caught the name of Grune. Why were the adults talking about that traitor? Prey to her curiosity Kit rushed to her door and carefully opened it just a little, to better hear what Bengali was saying then.

"I say we follow him!" the white tiger said fiercely. "We have no way to know what Grune has planned, and we can't be sure that Lion-O will win the fight alone!"

"Have you no confidence in your king?" Panthro replied. "Lion-O has faced Grune in battle before, and has come out victorious."

"But never like this!" Bengali countered. "He had help before, this time he won't even have that unless we tail him!"

"During his trials to become King, Lion-O faced and defeated Mumm-Ra alone, Bengali," the panther recalled. "And he was much less experienced then than he is now. Don't you have faith in LIon-O's judgment?"

"Of course I have faith in him! I just…"

"We won't follow Lion-O, this is a battle he must fight on his own," Panthro stated, his tone of voice leaving no room for further argument. "Besides, Grune has no chance against the Eye of Thundera. Lion-O will win."

"That might be so, but it never hurts to be prepared. I'll be in the hangar just in case," Bengali replied, marching off in the opposite direction.

Panthro turned and made his way to the control room, not noticing the girl peeking from the door behind him and never suspecting she had listened to information she was not supposed to know, since the older Thundercats had decided the twins were better off not being told of Grune's challenge until it was finished.

The main reason why the adults had chosen not to mention it to their younger members was precisely to keep them from worrying unnecessarily and acting rashly, things which WilyKit was doing now. The girl was frantic; the last time they had fought that phantom, Lion-O had been unable to defeat or even touch him. In the end it had been Jaga who had finally defeated the evil ghost and even then, Lion-O had to give all his energy to the benevolent phantom to enable him to beat Grune!

And now Lion-O was going to fight such a powerful monster all alone?

WilyKit quickly decided she would not let him do that. She was going to convince Lion-O to let them help him; it was far past the time for one of them to drill some common sense into the lion's stubborn royal head!

Reaching for a slightly oversized robe Cheetara had given her, WilyKit left her room and walked hurriedly all the way to the royal chambers. The one thought in her mind stopping Lion-O from making the mistake of facing Grune alone. The girl knew she wouldn't normally be so concerned, but after what Lion-O had done for WilyKat, she was simply too worried and felt the need to repay him before he left. The only way she could think of doing so was assuring him that he was not alone, and making sure he accepted both her help and the help the others were obviously eager to give him.

She was still thinking about this when she arrived at his bedroom, and was so determined to make him listen to her that she literally stormed into the room, opening the door without knocking first. The image which greeted her as she entered effectively crushed anything she had planned to say.

In front of her stood Lion-O, wearing only his trunks and holding his shirt in both hands, as he was obviously about to put it on. Despite herself WilyKit couldn't stop her eyes from wandering over the lion's chiseled body, admiring his broad chest and well-defined abdomen and finally setting on his strong arms, the arms which had held her so gently just the day before.

The girl suddenly felt as if the room's temperature had increased, or was it just her? She could feel her heart speeding up and her cheeks warming to the point she felt her whole body was bright red. Forcing her eyes away from the king's finely sculpted physique, WilyKit lowered her face to hide her flush and reminded herself of the reason she was there.

"WilyKit, what are you doing here?" Lion-O asked with a surprised frown on his face. "It's too early for you to be up. Is your brother alright?"

"I… uh, it-it's not about WilyKat, he's fine!" she quickly replied, still keeping her face low, afraid now that he would notice the fiery tint she knew was adorning her cheeks. "I… heard something bad had happened and I… I wanted to ask you…"

Lion-O tossed his shirt to the bed and walked to the girl who had suddenly entered his room and who, for some strange reason, seemed to be extremely concerned and afraid to admit it. He dropped to one knee and took her softly by the shoulders. "It's about Grune, isn't it? You heard about the challenge."

"…Yes, I heard Panthro and Bengali," she admitted as she finally risked looking up, meeting his eyes with hers. Her concern for him killed her shyness, replacing it with fear of losing him. "I don't want you to fight him, Lion-O!"

"I don't want to fight him either, but I must do this," he said in a way he hoped was confident enough to calm Kit. "Grune is dangerous and we can't afford the risk of letting him destroy what we are planning to rebuild before we even start. Do you understand, Kit?"

"I-I guess I do… but that ghost is too strong and evil!" she argued, shaking a little as she recalled their fight on Third Earth. "Only Jaga could stop him!"

"Grune is not a ghost anymore, WilyKit. He somehow came back to life," the king informed her. "And he wants to be the new Lord of the Thundercats."

"I would never follow him!" Kit swore. "He's evil!"

"But others might," Lion-O said gravely. "Some of the returning Thunderians could feel Grune is a better leader than I am and rebel against us. That is why I must defeat him now. I must do it to secure my place as king."

"Can't we all go and help you?" she asked hopefully. "You don't have to fight alone."

"Grune demanded a one-on-one duel, and I agreed," Lion-O explained. He noticed the worried expression Kit wore, and decided to share with her something that he hoped would calm her. "Snarf will be there. He was so worried that I agreed to let him come with me. If something happens, he'll call the lair so you can come and help me. Don't worry; you know Snarf would never let anything bad happen to me."

"But…" she looked away; her lower lip trembling as fear invaded her again.

"WilyKit, look at me," Lion-O interrupted and continued once the girl's shiny scarlet orbs fixated on his. "I will be fighting to give you and all the Thunderians that are coming here a peaceful place to live; I swear on my father's name that I won't be defeated. Do you trust me?"

"Yes, I… I trust you Lion-O," she said shyly, her voice low. The girl found herself suddenly lost in his determined eyes; how could she not believe in him? "I trust you completely."

"Then please stay here and wait until I return. I'll be back victorious," he assured her with a smile. "Can you do that for me?"

WilyKit wanted to scream no; she wanted to tell him how stupid going alone was and she wanted him to let them all help him. But in the end, she did not. She trusted him too much for that. He had promised he'd be victorious, and she knew he would keep his promise. Steeling herself and taking in a deep breath, the young girl agreed to his request with a slow, almost reluctant, nod.

"Good, I'll be going then. I've got to be at the Crystal Canyon by sunrise and I barely have enough time," the king related as he started to get up, but something stopped him from rising.

What stopped him were WilyKit's arms, locked firmly around his neck. The girl, prey to an impulse alien even to herself, had hugged Lion-O as tightly as she could, feeling this was the only way she could express the feelings of worry and of something else which she still struggled to comprehend. Deep down she knew she had to somehow try to communicate the young king what she felt for him.

"…I-I'll be waiting for you here, Lion-O," she promised as she buried her face in the nook of his neck. "So you better kick his butt real hard for putting _us_ in this situation, you hear?"

Despite her attempt at a joke, there was no trace of humor in WilyKit's words and Lion-O realized it when she released him and pulled back, allowing her to see the deep concern on her face.

The young lion grabbed WilyKit's right hand and held it gently in his before grinning at her. "Grune won't stand a chance, Kit. Consider his butt kicked."

Lion-O grabbed for his shirt and hastily put it on. WilyKit did nothing but stare at him and she didn't even say good bye when the young king waved his hand in farewell as he left the room.

Feeling her chest tighten with concern, WilyKit nervously grabbed at the neck of her robe and sat on his bed. She sat there in silence worrying endlessly like a troubled queen waiting for her king to return from battle, and there she remained until Pummyra found her hours later and gave her the good news.

Lion-O had won.

0-0

The celebration would be small, but that didn't matter because they would all be there. Even Tygra, who Cheetara had called last night, had traveled from Third Earth and had arrived in time to greet Lion-O when he returned, victorious, to Cat's Lair.

They hadn't even gone to the Council Room. Panthro and Bengali had brought out a table and chairs, Linx-O and Tygra had brought out some food and drinks and Pummyra and Cheetara had set it all in place. They even managed to decorate the table with some flowers the speedster of the group had hastily gathered. The twins had offered their help, of course, but given that Kat was still recovering, they simply asked Kit to look after him while they waited until Lion-O returned.

The twins, of course, were sour about this as they felt the adults didn't trust them enough to help with something as simple as setting a table or carrying trays of food. Their annoyance at the adults vanished, however, the moment _he _arrived at the bridge that crossed the gorge and connected Cat's Lair with the plains ahead.

When Lion-O greeted them all with a wave of his hand, every Thundercat rushed to meet him, all of them congratulating him on his victory. The twins, however, reacted a little bit differently than the adults. WilyKat was almost overcome with reverence and admiration, and wanted to hear every single detail about the young king's fight with Grune. WilyKit on the other hand, was overwhelmed with a sense of pride and relief that filled her heart in ways she had never experienced before.

0-0

"Do you think he'll get angry?" WilyKit asked. She and her brother had been waiting for Lion-O to come out of the Council room where he was currently having a meeting with Tygra and Panthro. "What if he has something to do after the reunion?"

"I don't think he'll get angry, sister," Kat replied, not moving from the windowsill he'd been sitting at. "Lion-O said he'll enter the Book of Omens tomorrow, so he's probably gonna spend the rest of the day preparing for it. That is why he won't be angry if we invite him to hang out with us for a while."

"I hope he agrees. I'd feel dumb if the food I made goes to waste," Kit stated while looking at the basket she had by her side.

"I'll eat it if he says he can't come," Kat offered.

"I doubt you could eat it all."

"And why not, did you make too much food or something?" WilyKat said as he slid off the window and peeked into his sister's picnic basket, surprised at the food-filled containers. There was a salad, some kind of broth and many, many sandwiches "Wow! It _is _a lot… but it actually doesn't look that bad. Every time you cook the results are disastrous, how come this isn't the usual toxic food you make?"

"Say that again and I won't let you eat anything," Kit admonished. "And Cheetara helped me; that is why this looks good, and I made the sandwiches with the leftovers from this morning."

"Well, one thing's for sure, I couldn't eat all this."

"Told you so."

"Panthro and Snarf will eat it if we don't finish it; I'm sure of it," Kat said with a playful smirk. "You know they really like to eat, don't you?"

WilyKit bit back a laugh. "Particularly Snarf, he was begging us for a bite while we were cooking!"

"I bet you he'll show up at the picnic!"

"I hope he doesn't," Kit said in a serious tone. "I like old Snarf, but this will be our moment with Lion-O, right?"

"Right."

The sound of a door opening interrupted the twins and prompted them to look down the hallway, where they saw Lion-O leaving the council room followed by Tygra and Panthro. Much to the twins' relief the older Thundercats left in the opposite direction, while the young king approached the twins. As he moved closer Lion-O's expression changed from calm to puzzled. Obviously he was wondering what Kit and Kat wanted with him.

"Is there a reason why you were waiting for the meeting to end?" the lion asked while smiling at the siblings.

"Well... since you told us you're planning to enter the Book of Omens tomorrow," Kat started.

"We realized you're probably stressed about it," Kit continued.

"And we decided you needed to do something to relax and have fun!" both twins concluded at the same time, smiling at each other and then at the king.

"We're inviting you to have a picnic with us!" WilyKat went immediately, hoping this would help them get Lion-O to agree to the invitation.

"What do you say, Lion-O?" WilyKit asked. "I even cooked and I'm sure the food is good!"

The young king crossed his arms and looked down at the wildcat twins. For a moment Lion-O considered declining the invitation, but he had to admit that they were right, he did feel stressed and worried about the trials he would face inside the book. Spending some time away from the Lair enjoying himself sounded extremely appealing and he could not deny that it would serve him well to purge the tension he within him.

"I say that a picnic is a great idea!" He nodded and smiled openly at Kit and Kat. "Let's go, I know a nice place where we can hang out for an hour or two."

Lion-O had to admit he was surprised at how much he enjoyed the company of the twins and how much the three of them actually had in common; their views on the world were certainly close to his, and he found it incredibly easy to talk with them and even gossip about things only children would notice, such as the fondness for gold Cheetara had developed in Third Earth or Tygra's naps in the balcony at noon. And WilyKit's food had been surprisingly tasty as well. All in all, the young king had nothing to complain about and much to thank the twins for.

The reason why Lion-O was enjoying himself so much was that even if circumstances had forced him to grow up so quickly, he still was a child at heart, not really older than the twins, and he still retained the innocence of a child. While this innocence had been his greatest strength against the trials evil had placed in front of him, he had never truly enjoyed it through spending time with others his age.

"Why don't we play something?" WilyKat suggested then when he noticed Lion-O's mood had gone pensive. "How about a game of hide and seek? We always wanted to play that one with you before you... huh... got big. Would you like to play? I bet you won't have the skill to find us, Lion-O."

"Yeah, that'll be fun!" WilyKit joined her brother, suddenly recalling that they had wanted to invite Lion-O to play with them before he grew up by accident. "Wanna play with us?"

"Sure, why not?" the king agreed as he stood up. "As Kit said, it will be fun."

Kat glanced at his sister and winked at her. She responded with a slight nod and then...

Both twins darted off towards the forest, laughing as they did so.

"You'll have to find us then, Lion-O!" Kit called playfully right before she vanished between the trees.

"I'll find you in a second, you just watch!" Lion-O called back, rushing into the forest with an enthusiasm worthy of a boy playing his favorite game.

A few minutes later WilyKit, hiding comfortably in the space between two thick branches high on a very large tree, noticed how Lion-O passed under her hiding spot for the third time. She couldn't stop herself from looking out at him attentively. She noticed the way sweat drops glittered on his shoulders and made his hair shine every time the strands of sunlight filtering through the leaves hit his muscular body. The girl realized her face was getting hot and worriedly crept back under the upper branch, afraid that if Lion-O looked up he would catch her staring at him and notice her flushed face.

"But it's not just how handsome he is..." Kit muttered to herself. "There's something else that makes me feel this way for him... but what is it?"

Something happened then which surprised the young wildcat girl so much she froze. That something was the tip of the claw cable hitting her branch, followed quickly by the king's laughter as he used the wire to pull himself up to her level. In less than two seconds, Lion-O was hanging right besides WilyKit.

"Looks like I found you," the lion announced with a witty smile. "Now it's your brother's turn!"

Before Kit could complain at all, Lion-O used the cable to swing to the next tree, an action he repeated a few times until he couldn't be seen anymore. Moments later WilyKat's complaining was heard, claiming Lion-O hadn't played fair.

Back in her branch, Kit couldn't help but smile at the situation. She hadn't expected Lion-O to be smart or good enough to track her and her twin so quickly. Then again, Lion-O had bested her and Kat during his trials, so this shouldn't be a surprise, yet it was. He always managed to surprise her with something he did or said, and she found she kind of liked it.

A few minutes later, the trio walked back to the Lair. Lion-O walked ahead and carried the picnic basket, WilyKat was at his side and both were chatting about the game they had just played. WIlyKit walked behind them, a few steps away and deep in thought.

_"I wish my pod had malfunctioned too..."_ she silently reflected when they arrived at Cat's Lair and Lion-O called for the bridge to be extended. _"If I were older, then Lion-O and I could..."_

"Thank you."

Kit's thoughts were interrupted by those words, and she quickly looked up to see Lion-O smiling at her and WilyKat.

"What?" she blurted out, afraid he would have somehow read her thoughts.

"Thanks for a great time, you two," Lion-O repeated. "I really needed to relax. I'm glad you convinced me to go on this picnic, and the game was fun, wasn't it?"

"Very fun!" Kat said.

"Yeah, very fun," the king agreed. "We'll have to do it again once I return from the Book of Omens, ok?"

"Su-sure, I... we'll be looking forward to it," WilyKit assured, her shiny red orbs looking for Lion-O's and locked on them as she spoke. "And we won't let you forget about it."

"I won't," the lion promised. "And... well... I still have to talk to Panthro about some things, so I'll take the basket to the kitchen before I go see him. Thanks again, you really helped me out today."

0-0

It was the big day, the day when Lion-O finally entered the Book of Omens to learn from the ancient kings of Thundera. For the Thundercats this was a matter of great significance, even more so than the trials the young lion had to face back in Third Earth, for the moment a king returned from the ancient tome marked the true beginning of his reign.

"WilyKit, hurry up! We don't want to be late!" Kat urged his sister, who had spent an abnormal amount of time looking at her reflection in their mirror and trying different things with her hair. "C'mon! You hair is fine, there's no need to try to change the way you comb it now!"

"I want to look my best for this," Kit replied, using her fingers to try to keep the black line running through her hair straight and not zig-zagging. "Unlike you, I do care about the way I look."

"I told you, you look fine!" Kat tried again. "Let's go before Lion-O decides not to wait for us!"

"Look, Kat, I..." WilyKit started, but was interrupted by a shadow which abruptly appeared behind her brother.

"What is keeping you two?" Cheetara asked. The cheetah didn't seem angry, but her voice did sound a little upset. "Lion-O's already at the hall of kings and as soon as he finishes talking to Panthro and Tygra, he'll enter the Book. You're the only ones not already there."

"Tell that to my sister, she's the one taking her sweet time getting ready!" Kat sourly complained, not happy at the idea of missing seeing Lion-O before the latter left.

"You don't have to speak to me like that just because I want to look good," WilyKit replied as she looked back, noticing right away that Cheetara also looked slightly different. "Look, even Cheetara changed her hairstyle and is wearing her gold bracelets!"

WilyKat stared at Cheetara then and saw that his sister was telling the truth, but that did little to appease him. "It doesn't change a thing, she's ready and you aren't."

"I'm done," Kit announced. She had given up trying to keep her hair the way she wanted, and had instead chosen to comb it as she usually did, only adding a little bit of volume with a sticky foam Pummyra had lent her. "Sorry for keeping you waiting, Kat, we can go now."

"Finally!" Kat exclaimed, reaching for his sister's hand to quickly drag her out of their room so they could follow Cheetara, who was already out in the hallway.

Not too long after...

Every Thundercat stood at the base of the stairs leading to where Lion-O's throne would be located, watching their young king with mixed emotions as he stood tall and confident, halfway up the stairs in front of them. Each member of the team was experiencing several different emotions, of course, but all of them shared two: Pride and happiness.

Pride, because they all had done their best to help Lion-O reach this point and now could feel rewarded for their efforts and happiness because they all knew this would be the start of an era of prosperity for all of them! The mutants and Lunatacs had been defeated recently, the same for Grune and Mumm-Ra; there was no other foe who could threaten their future and even if something happened, they knew Lion-O would be back in less that a week. They all knew peace had finally returned and that Thundera would rise from the ashes to again become the great kingdom it had once been.

WilyKat stood in front of Cheetara, listening attentively to Lion-O's words as he announced Panthro would be in charge while he was gone. The boy was captivated by the young king's speech and realized that one of the biggest reasons why he admired Lion-O so much was that even though they were the same age, the lion had grown up quickly and turned into an admirable warrior and leader. Kat remembered that when they all had escaped Thundera before it blew up, his job had been to offer Lion-O advice and help him study and train. The wildcat boy had never imagined it would be the other way around, but he didn't mind this change much as it had been for the better. All he needed to make sure of was to study hard enough so he could put his intelligence at Lion-O's service as soon as possible.

WilyKit, on the other hand, was feeling more than happiness and pride; as she looked at Lion-O she felt that strange emotion again only that this time understood what it was: it was affection. This realization made her feel shy and afraid the adults would notice which in turn caused her to back up a little as she lowered her face, but Cheetara's hand on her shoulder stopped her. Surprised, Kit was about to turn and face the cheetah, but the reassuring squeeze of her shoulder made her feel better and her confidence returned enough for her to gather the courage to stay where she was and keep her eyes on Lion-O. The wildcat girl had never imagined Lion-O would turn into such a handsome and confident king, nor that she would like him so much. She just hoped that when she grew, he would truly like her too.

"I'll see you all soon," Lion-O said then, smiling openly at his friends as he ended his farewell speech. His smile never faltering, the young king unlocked the Book of Omens and was swiftly transported inside it. Lion-O's royal training had begun.

Later that day...

After the initial excitement of seeing Lion-O off had waned, every Thundercat started working on the tasks they had been given by their king. Panthro had gone to gather more Thundrilium, and he had taken Pummyra, Linx-O and Bengali with him, leaving Cheetara, Tygra, Snarf and the twins guarding the Lair. Cheetara was not required to do anything at the moment, so she simply sat at the edge of the bridge which connected Cat's Lair with the valley ahead of it, enjoying the warm afternoon sun. The cheetah was slightly surprised when WilyKit approached her and sat at her side.

"Hi," the cheetah said with a welcoming smile. "I'm glad you're here, I was hoping for some company."

"Really?" WilyKit asked. "Well, that's good... it feels nice, huh? The sun, I mean."

Cheetara nodded. "Yes, it does."

Both females sat there in silence, the cheetah noticing immediately that WilyKit had something to say, and that she was not sure on how to start. Not wanting to scare the girl by pushing her, Cheetara decided to wait until the girl was ready.

"Um Cheetara?" Kit called after a few minutes of silence. "There's something I... well, I mean, can I ask you something?"

"Sure, go ahead," the older female encouraged. "What's on your mind?"

"Do you... do you remember the reason why I was... chosen to accompany Lion-O?" WilyKit asked. "I think I do but... I'm afraid that it's not really what I remember..."

"Jaga chose you to be his wife once you two were old enough," Cheetara recalled. "But when we discovered Lion-O had grown up we decided to put it on hold. You were particularly happy about it."

The cheetah covered her mouth with her hand to stifle a laugh. "You told us Lion-O had gotten too big and rough and that he wasn't cute anymore!"

Kit blushed at that. She had forgotten the reason why she had been so relieved when the engagement was put on hold. "Is that true?"

"Yes, but it happened years ago, Kit. It's ok that you forgot about it," the blonde Thundercat offered. "So... why are you asking me about it now?"

Silence.

"WilyKit?"

"I want to know..." WilyKit started, nervously fiddling with the hem of her skirt. "Is the engagement still valid?"

Cheetara ran a hand through WilyKit's hair and nodded. "We never canceled it; so yes, it's still valid, why?"

Kit closed her eyes and, overcome with shyness, lowered her head to hide her tinted cheeks. "Because I... I wouldn't mind to... be his wife... Lion-O's wife, I mean... if it's still ok...?"

"Well, he's too old for you right now," the woman replied, wondering why the girl was asking this now, and concluding it had to do with the question she'd asked about Lion-O liking her or not. "But don't worry, in a few years there won't be a problem."

"He isn't older than me, you know?" Kit pointed out after another moment of silence she spent contemplating the cheetah's words. "Just because he's got the body of an adult, it doesn't mean he's older. Technically, we're still the same age!"

"True, but he's had to mature faster than you and your twin, WilyKit," the speedster reminded her. "He wouldn't have become such a good leader if he hadn't."

WilyKit pouted, slightly frustrated at the cheetah's apparent lack of supportiveness. "So that means I can't marry him?"

"It means you can't until you're old enough. You'll have to wait, WilyKit."

"When will I be old enough?" she asked. "In a year or two?"

Cheetara smiled and stared at the valley ahead. "I'm afraid not. You'll be old enough in five or six more years, Kit."

"Six years?" the Wily girl sighed in disappointment. "That's a long time!"

"Be patient, you'll be able to do more things and enjoy certain aspects of married life you can't right now once you've grown up," the cheetah smirked then, hoping WilyKit wouldn't catch on to what she had inadvertently said.

"Fine... if you say so Cheetara... I'll wait," Kit leaned on Cheetara's side then, resting as she too stared at the open valley in front of them. "I'll study hard to be the best wife for him... and a good queen, too... but not just for him, but for all of you. I promise."

The cheetah smiled softly at WilyKit and reached out to move a wild strand of hair from the girl's eyes. "You'll be a great queen when the time comes, WilyKit. I'm sure of it."

"Thank you Cheetara... I'll do my best not to disappoint you."

At the same time, inside Cat's Lair...

Tygra was sitting at his desk, tracing the first draft of what he expected would be the designs and blueprints for the first housing complex Lion-O had asked him to build. This was a task the tiger found very satisfying, particularly because as an architect he didn't get to enjoy himself like this often, working on something he knew he was one of the best at. His attention completely devoted to drawing and erasing lines and curves, Tygra didn't notice when the door to his studio opened and a boy walked in with light steps.

"Uh... Tygra, do you mind if I hang around for a while?"

"What?" the tiger, startled by the interruption, twisted hastily to his right to find Kat sitting on a stool. The kid was staring back at him, and seemed to be concerned about his reaction. "Oh, it's you. Sorry, WilyKat, I wasn't expecting anyone and you surprised me. Sure, you can stay here for as long as you like; perhaps you can even help me out a little, would you like that?"

"Yeah, that would be cool," the boy said, walking to the desk Tygra had been working on and peeking at the blueprints. "What's this? You're designing a building?"

"It will be a comfortable housing complex once I'm done with it," the architect said with confidence.

"But it looks... well..."

Tygra's left eyebrow rose at that. Normally, he wouldn't pay any attention and would keep his plans as they were, but this time he decided to let the kid talk and try to incorporate something the boy said into the design, just to help WilyKat cheer up a little. "It's alright, tell me."

WilyKat swallowed and pointed shyly at what would be the front of the building. "It's too plain, there should be something at the entrance to make it more attractive."

Tygra nodded. He was planning to add a statue or some ornaments to the doors, but was interested in listening to WilyKat's ideas. "Tell me more."

"It needs something in the door, and the front of the building could use something, like a series of small statues every few floors."

The tiger grinned, pleased at the criticism he had just received. "You've got a good eye, Kat; those are precisely the details I'd mention if I were in your situation."

"Really?"

"Yes, you're pretty clever for a kid your age," Tygra praised. "Aesthetics aren't important at this stage of the design, practicality and functionality are a higher priority, but once that is done, it's always important to find ways to make the structure pleasant to look at, and your suggestions were spot on."

"Perhaps I could be an architect like you when I grow up," Kat hoped.

"Perhaps, and if you truly like it, I could teach you myself," the tiger offered. "It's never too early to choose a profession."

"Ah... well, speaking of that..." Kat started, deciding it would be a good idea to touch that particular subject now. "I'm actually wondering about what I'm going to do a lot."

"Really?" Tygra's full attention was now on WilyKat. "Why do you say that?"

"Because I... I sometimes think that I have no real talents, Tygra," Kat confessed and quickly added before the tiger interrupted him. "You and the other adults all have different talents and powers that make you essential parts of the team! But me... I've got nothing! Even my sister is a better fighter than I am!"

For a moment, the architect contemplated the wildcat kid and wondered why he was feeling like this now. In the end, Tygra decided it had to do with Lion-O's training. It seemed, then, that he would have to find a way to reassure Kat and make him feel better about himself.

"...I won't be able to even give Lion-O good advice..." the child complained with a frustrated groan. "And that was the only reason Jaga picked me!"

"Hey, don't think like that," Tygra said with a caring but firm voice. "You have many qualities, Kat, you just aren't seeing them. You're quite smart; finding the way to improve the work I showed you is not something a boy your age could do as quickly as you did, see? And you can use that intelligence in the field, too. You are careful in critical situations, too... always avoiding rushing in and analyzing the problem before acting... well, as long as your sister doesn't goad you into doing otherwise. The point is..." the tiger made a pause here and tapped WilyKat's head with his index finger, "You're very intelligent, Kat. You could easily do anything you want as long as you use your intelligence properly. Who knows what complex disciplines could you master if you devote yourself?"

WilyKat pondered on Tygra's words for a moment and, while he did feel better, there was something else which still bothered him. "Even if I'm as smart as you say, I still don't have any special talents like you or Cheetara do..."

"Panthro doesn't have any kind of special powers either, Kat. Do you consider him less of a Thundercat because of it?" Tygra asked, and pressed his point immediately when he saw Kat shake his head. "What about Pummyra, Bengali and Lynx-O? Or even your own sister? Having a special power is not what matters. How often do I use my mind power or Cheetara her vision and telekinesis? Those gifts tax us both so much you could say they're actually weaknesses! Having a special power is not always a blessing, Kat; remember that the skills you develop by yourself with hard work and study are the ones that really matter."

"I... I had never thought about it like that," the child whispered. "I think you're right, Tygra. Panthro is always working out to keep his strength and he studies when he can so that he doesn't forget how to fix and make machines... same with Pummyra and Bengali, they always work hard to keep their skills sharp."

"See?" the tiger smiled and softly patted the kid in the back. "Don't worry too much, Kat. I'm sure you'll find something soon, and when you do, you'll be great at it! Hey, why don't we start by seeing if you have other ideas to help me out? You might have real talent for architecture. Would you like that?"

"Yeah!"

And so, WilyKat worked with Tygra for the rest of the afternoon. His troubled mind satisfied, the boy forgot to tell Tygra about the energy he had felt circling all around him while he was trapped inside Mumm-Ra's pyramid.

0-0

New Thundera had repopulated itself quite quickly; many Thunderians had arrived shortly after Lion-O entered the Book of Omens, and they continued arriving for the better part of a full year. All those Thunderians had been willing and anxious to help and do all they could in order to restore their civilization; as a result, the Capital had grown into a full city around Cat's Lair in only a matter of months and many smaller cities, towns and farms were also developing. The only shade above the kingdom was Lion-O's absence, for the young king had yet to come out of the mystic Book.

That detail, however, had not diminished the enthusiasm of the Thunderians who had arrived to the planet, and soon, many of the old clans had established themselves in the city, organizing trade and commerce guilds, as well as other organizations to regulate construction and mining. Overall everything was going according to the plan Lion-O, Panthro and Tygra had made.

The clans organizing guilds, however, brought a complication the Thundercats had not expected would present itself so soon. Said complication was the clans negotiating among themselves, allying with each other in order to gain leverage against a competitor clan when it came to winning contracts for the lucrative mining and construction operations. Normally, this wouldn't be a problem, but the lack of a king to give a clear sanction to the guilds meant that the Thundercats had to deal with this situation and, since tradition mandated that only the king had the authority to authorize said unions, it meant that Panthro, Tygra and Cheetara had to mediate between the representatives of the different associations.

The wildcat twins had been spared from these conflicts so far, but not anymore. WilyKat had received a call the day before, as members of his clan were demanding a meeting with him. The boy had tried to weasel his way out of it at first, but his sense of duty had won and in the end he had agreed to meet with his people. For what reason he was being summoned Kat did not know, and he spent a great deal of time wondering about it… and dealing with the foul mood of his sister, who was not exactly pleased by the fact that only her brother got an invitation to meet the representatives of their clan.

Which was the reason she had accompanied him to the meeting place, a large house in the commerce district of the Capital.

"I still don't understand why those old geezers insist on only talking to you," Kit complained, her arms crossed, as her twin prepared to meet the people of their clan. "I'm a noble of the clan as well; I should have the same right to talk to them as you!"

"I know, but there's nothing I can do about it, they were pretty clear on their invitation," Kat sighed. "Don't worry, sis; I'll try to make them change their mind so that you can be on the meeting too."

WilyKit snorted at the comment. "Forget about it, brother. It's their loss. I wouldn't be comfortable hanging out with those ancient relics, and as you know quite well I don't like people who discriminate by gender... just make sure to let them know they need to modernize their views if they ever expect Lion-O to take them seriously."

"I will, don't worry," WilyKat promised with a nod. "What will you do while I'm in there?"

"To be honest? I don't know," the female twin admitted. "I think I'll go downtown to the city square, there's usually other girls there at this time and it'd be nice talking to them."

"Alright, I'll go back to the Lair when I'm done here; you go and have fun," the boy said as he looked reluctantly at the house behind them. "Gosh, I hate politics... it always complicates everything."

WilyKit smirked, she agreed with her twin about how boring politics were and that little detail was the only reason she was glad she wouldn't have to sit with all the old clan members. "You'll survive, Kat. See you in a while, then?"

"Yeah, see you in a while," he agreed, walking slowly towards the doors.

Once her twin was inside the house, WilyKit waited for a few minutes before jumping on her Space board and blasting at full speed towards the busy downtown of the Capital.

WilyKat was welcomed to the house by a servant of his clan, who led him to a large room where seven people from the Wildcat clan waited. He was then asked to sit in front of them and for a moment, the young noble felt his courage vanish under the piercing stare of these older members of his people. They stared at him in silence for almost a full minute before they decided to speak.

"Nice to see you here," one of the men greeted. "It is... strange, that the only survivors of the wildcat nobles are you and your sister."

"What happened to Lord and Lady Wily?" another asked. "They were your parents, were they not?"

Kat's lips pursed at that question. He didn't remember much about his parents, since they had died when he was very little, and didn't particularly like to answer such personal questions. Still, he decided to answer the man, if only to keep them from asking more about his past. "My parents died during the first stages of the cataclysm; because of that, my sister and I were sent to the royal academy to train. Anything else about my family you need to know, or will you tell me why you summoned me here?"

"Straight to the point. I see you inherited some of your father's personality," a third wildcat said. "Fine then, let's talk about the reason we called you."

"We feel... we aren't being represented properly in the Thundercat council," the oldest wildcat said bluntly. "We keep seeing how the Lion clan pushes for more and more benefits for their guild members everyday, and how the Tiger and Panther clans do the same; we see how lesser clans like the Jaguar and Cheetah form alliances with the larger, more powerful ones. That is bad for business, and it hurts the smaller clans like ours! We had to ally ourselves to the Lions in several negotiations were we had to give up on a large part of the profit our members receive in the construction association!"

WilyKat was expecting something like that; he had asked Tygra for advice, and the tiger had mentioned the possibility that the representatives of his clan would mention the situation between clans and their members in guilds to try and get some extra privileges. Tygra had also told him how he and Panthro had been struggling to keep the clan leaders in line, as all of them were demanding clearer rules for the guilds and how the Lions weren't making things easier with their attitude. But the fact he knew what the leaders of his clan wanted didn't mean he knew how to fix it or what to do about it; all Kat could do was to offer them the solution Tygra had given him in case something like this happened.

"So... what is it that you want me to do? Push for a vote in the council granting the Wildcat clan some extra benefits during your negotiations with all the other guild members?" WilyKat inquired. "If you think I can do that or that I have a full vote in the council then I'm afraid I'll have to disappoint you. I'm not old enough for that yet. My opinion and that of my sister is listened to, of course, but we still have to rely on the adult Thundercats to make the final choice."

The words of the young noble shocked the old men to the core and for an instant they didn't know how to respond, as they were indeed hoping to use the presence of one of them on the council to their advantage.

"Look, I know things between the guilds are not going as smoothly as everyone would like, but trust me when I say that we're all looking into it." Kat admitted, he then stood up and walked towards the window, which he opened to let some fresh air in, as he felt the room had suddenly gotten stale. "Give me a couple of weeks to see what me and my sister can do, alright? I promise I'll mention this to the other nobles, I'm sure we'll find a solution that will make everyone happy."

The Wildcat representatives whispered among themselves for a moment and then, they once again regarded WilyKat.

"What you offer isn't really what we were hoping for," the oldest of them said. "But is better than nothing, we'll wait to see what the council decides, but we do hope that you can find a way to standardize the privileges all clans get inside the guilds. Inequality was not a problem in Old Thundera, and we don't want to see that happen here."

"I promise you it won't," Kat swore.

In a different part of the Capital...

WilyKit had landed on a park in the middle of the new capital's downtown, and after leaving her space board in a safe location proceeded to walk around, both to calm down a little and to try and find other girls her age she could hang out with in order to forget the way the nobles of her clan had not even considered calling her to the meeting WilyKat was surely still trapped in.

"They should have let me in, too," she complained under her breath. "I'm a noble of the Wildcat clan just like my brother, I should've been allowed in that stupid meeting!"

Kit kept walking while fuming at the Wildcat elders' lack of tact as far as females was involved when, suddenly, she realized something that erased the resentment she felt towards the leaders of her clan. The girl stopped mid track and smiled, it was so ironic that she almost slapped her forehead for not realizing it sooner.

It didn't matter if the clan leaders had not deigned to even acknowledge her. It didn't matter that they had chosen to talk only with WilyKat. It didn't matter at all! And it didn't matter because she would be queen, she would marry Lion-O someday and then she would be the most important woman of New Thundera so in the end they would have to talk to her, even if they didn't want to.

"And then I'll show them I'm as capable as my brother!" Kit whispered with a satisfied smile. She knew sooner or later the elders of her clan would want something from the king and what better way to get it than by asking her? Once they did that, she would make sure to negotiate with them and Lion-O as well as possible, proving to those old cats that she was not just any dumb girl as they apparently thought she was. "Yep, I'll make them see I'm not just any woman someday!"

Satisfied by this resolution and eager to prove herself to her clan, WilyKit finally managed to forgive the elders of the Wildcat clan, which in turn helped her mood improve greatly and, as she continued walking down the street, she was able to easily forget about the earlier incident.

Not too long afterward Kit arrived to a vacant lot, where she found five girls discussing something while they absentmindedly passed a shiny white ball between them. Kit smiled when she recognized them. She had spent some time with this group during the last couple of weeks, and liked to think of them as friends, now. But before she could approach them, one of the girls, a young member of the Tiger clan, spotted her and waved her hand at her.

"Hey WilyKit, great timing!" the tiger girl said as she tossed the ball at Kit. "We're about to start a game of Thunderian Fast-ball, but we need another player to make it three on three, want to play?"

Kit caught the ball in her left hand and grinned. "Sure I do! Whose team will I be on, Tygess?"

The girl named Tygess beamed. "Mine, of course."

Later still, shortly before nightfall…

WilyKat sat alone in the Lair's kitchen, deep in thought as he took small bites of the roast the rest of the team had had for dinner. The wildcat boy had been forced to meet the families of all the elders of his clan, as well as listen to their observations and suggestions about the current situation with other clans and how to fix it. All in all, Kat had spent several hours with them and resented a bit that he had lost the chance to accompany Tygra and the others to see the Tree Fortress the warrior maidens had finished building that very same day, especially since Kit had gone, and his sister had made no secret about how cool the place was and how happy the Amazons from Third Earth had been.

"Politics my butt!" the boy whispered. "I'm sure not even Lion-O would be able to stand something so boring for more than a week!"

"You're still going on about that?" WilyKit asked as she entered the kitchen and sat next to her twin. "Well, you deserve it for not asking them to let me in! If you had, we'd both be bored out of our minds right now."

"Yay me," Kat mumbled, refocusing on his food. "You get to spend time with Tygra and the others in that big Tree Fortress and I get stuck with those boring old cats! Kind of unfair, you know?"

"I felt the same way this morning, so I'd say we're even, brother," Kit replied while reaching for some of the meat on her twin's plate. "And it wasn't so interesting anyway."

"What do you mean?" WilyKat asked, confused at his sister's affirmation. "You seemed happy that you got to go there."

"And I still am; that Tree Fortress thing the warrior maidens built with our help is pretty darn amazing," Kit admitted. "I enjoyed the tour, but it was the grown ups who were the real show!"

"Really, why?" Kat asked, his interest peaking at the prospect of some interesting information.

Kit smiled at her twin. "Because of how they behaved! For example, Queen Willa kept talking about how many things she and Tygra did back in Third Earth when he had to stay on the Lair we have there. It seems Tygra spent a lot of time with the Amazons back then."

"And that's a show... because?"

"Turns out all Tygra did was help them rebuild Plundarr's Castle so they could use it, and the Warrior Maidens are very thankful for his help," Kit clarified and then giggled a little. "But the really interesting part is... heh, get a load of this... I think Queen Willa likes Tygra; she stuck to him like if her life depended on it!"

"Awkward, maybe she just misses him," WilyKat said, finding what his sister said slightly amusing, as Kit wasn't really into gossiping unless it was something really juicy. "I mean... she's a human."

"Hah! So says the Casanova who was after a girl from the Unicorn Caretakers tribe!" the wildcat girl smirked as she lightly elbowed her twin. "Anyway, you want _real_ awkward? Try the moment Princess Nayda asked Panthro and Cheetara if they planned to get married soon!"

"The Warrior Maidens still aren't subtle, are they? I'm sure Panthro is happy Willa and Nayda went back to Third Earth earlier today," WilyKat replied. He'd been about to complain about Kit bugging him over that date he'd had with that human girl a couple of years ago, but trying to imagine how Panthro reacted to such a comment killed the complaint in his lips.

"No kidding! Panthro turned all kind of shades of red and Cheetara was speechless for almost a minute!" Kit laughed at the memory, but quickly composed herself out of the respect she felt for Cheetara. "Sorry, it's just that it was the funniest thing in the afternoon, and I hadn't got the chance to laugh about it 'til now."

Kat smiled, but didn't find it in him to share his sister's laughter. "I bet being there to see it was something, huh?"

"You bet, brother!"

Before Kat could reply, Cheetara's voice came out of the small speaker set on the wall and filled the room.

"Children, please come to the control room," the cheetah requested, her tone serious. "It is important."

The twins immediately stopped their chatter and hurried to meet with the others.

In the control room...

WilyKit and WilyKat found all the adult Thundercats already waiting for them, so they quickly joined the group, Kit perching on a chair and Kat leaning on a control panel. A swift look at the others told them the announcement would be huge, and both twins noticed that out of the six adults, Cheetara and Panthro were the most nervous of the group.

"Thanks for coming so quickly, children" the cheetah said with a smile. Cheetara then went and stood at Panthro's side, her hand almost touching his. "I'm glad that all of you are here. You see... Panthro and I have something to tell all of you."

"We feel it's time that we..." Panthro started, but whatever he was going to say was interrupted by the loud screech of the Lair's alarms.

"What is going on?" Bengali managed to get out right before a blast shook the entire Thudercat fortress; as if on cue, the main screen showed the confused guardians of Thundera the source of the alarm.

A full fleet of Skycutters led by JackalMan and Monkian had managed to get past the Lair's radar and was circling it, getting closer and closer.

"Mutants!" Pummyra yelled as she rushed to the main panel and started pressing buttons in a frenzy. "There's at least fifty Skycutters, and that blast just now took out the main cannon from the head of the lair!"

"Use the secondary weapons!" Tygra ordered. "Don't let them get any nearer than they have!"

A new series of blasts shut the tiger up, as the lair shook to its foundations and electricity sparked and arced out of the main panel as it exploded with a loud bang. The lights went out and more blasts hit the Lair, causing most of the control panels to short circuit and blow up, filling the room with heavy smoke and rendering the rest of the fortress' weapons useless.

"They're hitting us with something big!" Panthro said, staring at the flickering images on the large screen, finally making out something which made his skin crawl. "Damn them all to hell! Those cursed mutants have Xyno missiles mounted on those Skycutters!"

"Xy-Xyno missiles?" Bengali gasped. "We gotta get out of here!"

"I agree, we'll be buried under the rubble if we stay here!" Lynx-O seconded.

"Snarf and Pummyra, go get the Book of Omens, that takes priority!" Panthro snarled, his eyes still on the blinking screen. "Tygra, you and Lynx-O try to get to the Feliner and blast those mutants off the sky! Bengali, protect the twins! Cheetara, you and I will try to get the Thundertank out! Let's move!"

Panthro's plan, however, died before it had even started. The mutants had planned their attack all too well. Several more missiles hit the Lair right then, and the Lion-shaped Head cracked, forcing the Thundercats to rush to the stairs as a large chunk of said head crumbled to the ground several stories below.

"We can't waste more time!" Tygra yelled. "Snarf, Pummyra, go and get the Book!"

Nodding, the healer and the scared Snarf rushed for the treasure room. Behind them Tygra and Lynx-O sprinted toward the hangar, followed by Panthro and Cheetara.

"Let's go to the hangar too," Bengali urged the twins. "We'll use the ThunderClaw to support the Feliner!"

This, however, did not happen; the moment Bengali and the twins caught up with the rest of the team they found that the vehicles had all been crushed under the rubble as most of the hangar had already collapsed. The Thundertank was probably still operational, but getting it from under the rubble would require time the Thundercats simply didn't have.

A new set of explosions rocked the lair and more rubble fell on top of the already crushed vehicles. Then a voice was heard.

"We've got the book and the key!" Snarf announced, rushing into the hangar along with Pummyra, and the two did it just in time, for the roof collapsed behind them, trapping the Thundercats in the crumbling hangar.

Without warning the bombing stopped and the loud noise of the attacking craft vanished little by little, until only an eerie silence filled the Lair. The silence, unfortunately, didn't last long. Screaming was heard outside, and these were not screams asking for help; what the Thundercats heard were hate-filled battle-cries.

"They also have infantry? Damned monsters!" Tygra cursed, rushing to the Hangar's entrance and freezing in shock once he opened the door.

"There must be hundreds of them," Cheetara whispered, looking at the approaching mutant army from behind the tiger's shoulder while holding back the sudden burst of despair threatening to engulf her.

"What now?" Bengali asked, struggling to keep from shaking at the sight in front of him. "Should we try to escape?"

"We wouldn't get far, look... they've got us surrounded. The only option left is to fight them," Panthro answered, his voice firm as steel as he announced his choice. "Let the mutants learn that even against all odds, the Thundercats fought with bravery to the very end!"

"I'm with you, my friend," Tygra started, reaching for his whip. "We'll fight today and whether we live or die, we'll do it with the satisfaction that we did it with _truth_ in our hearts."

"And with _honor_," Cheetara, having recognized Tygra's intention, continued.

"And _loyalty_," the twins added, as they too understood what was being said.

"And for _justice_," Panthro concluded, finishing reciting the Code of Thundera.

"If we all agree then, I say we go and teach them a lesson!" Bengali growled as he reached for his hammer.

The other Thundercats nodded and reached for their weapons, steeling themselves for the battle ahead of them. But just before they rushed into battle, Cheetara stood in front of the white tiger, and knelt before the twins.

"We'll get through this, I promise," she swore, then looked up at Bengali. "Take good care of them, please."

"I will," he promised. "Don't worry."

"Thank you, Bengali," the cheetah then looked at the children again and caressed their faces. "I wish you didn't have to fight in this battle but... just be brave, children, all right?"

"We will, Cheetara," WilyKit promised.

"We are not afraid," Wilykat swore.

"I know you aren't," the cheetah managed to smile at the twins and then stood up and extended her staff.

Saying nothing more the Thundercats rushed to meet the advancing mutant army...

The twins followed Bengali, who had forced them to stay behind him as they approached the charging army of mutants led by none other than Slithe. Kit and Kat, while unnerved by the violence ahead of them, had managed to place their fear behind them and kept it firmly in check with a strong determination to survive. The twins saw how Cheetara did the first move on their behalf, using her speed to dart between the enemy lines and then returning to where Panthro and Tygra stood. That single attack had broken the front line of the attacking army, something Tygra took advantage of by using the incendiary tips of his bolo whip to create a rain of fire above the mutants, an act which momentarily stopped the attacking horde. Panthro took advantage of this and lifted a large chunk of debris from the ruined Lair, which he tossed at the mutants.

"They're trying to make them scatter," Kat realized.

"More likely buying time. The mutants are cowards, with some luck this might keep them at bay until the people on the city comes to help us here," Lynx-O, who had also stayed behind, offered. The old, blind Lynx sniffed at the air and twitched his ears as he frowned. "But given their numbers..."

"They're still coming!" WilyKit yelled as she watched in horror how the mutants regrouped and marched in their direction.

"Stay close to me!" Bengali reminded the twins. "We've got to work together!"

Like a a brutal avalanche of death the mutant horde swept toward its enemies. Their greater numbers allowed the mutants to separate the Thundercats with ease, surrounding them until they were trapped in circles of sharp steel.

Lynx-O fell first. While the oldest Thundercat was skilled enough to be a formidable fighter, he lacked experience engaging multiple opponents and as a result he was quickly overwhelmed and captured.

Pummyra was next. She had tried to cover Lynx-O's back, and had used her amazing natural agility and her slingshot to keep the mutant troops at bay. Once she ran out of trick pellets, though, her limited fighting skill allowed her enemies to trap her in a net and assault her until she could no longer move.

Bengali fared better than his two friends; while he had been busy protecting the twins, it was actually thanks to them that he had managed to use the energy blasts of his Hammer of Thundera in a most effective way, knocking out several reptilian soldiers with little difficulty. Unfortunately for the white tiger, a squad of monkey men arrived to back up the reptiles. Using their superior agility the monkeys had little trouble in landing an array of kicks and punches which took Bengali down in a matter of seconds.

WilyKit and WilyKat fought surprisingly well together, each one compensating for the other's weaknesses. While Kit was the more capable fighter, Kat would back her up, and hint at places she could hit to cause more damage. This strategy worked well for the twins for several minutes and, coupled with their trick pellets, allowed them to bring down an astounding amount of mutants.

"Kat, Bengali's down!" WilyKit shouted, dodging a spear aimed at her torso. "We must save him!"

"It's too late! There's nothing you can do right now, we'll save him later," a voice interrupted. The twins looked up to see Cheetara to their right and, behind her, a group of unconscious mutant soldiers. "You two go hide in Cat's Lair, that's an order!"

"But..." WilyKat tried.

"I said go to the Lair,_ NOW_!" the cheetah ordered with a furious growl "Go and don't come out until this is over, you hear?"

The twins looked at each other and then at Cheetara. The fierce look in her eyes convinced them that it was best to obey her.

"Please, don't die," WilyKit begged.

"Any of you," WilyKat completed.

"We won't," the cheetah vowed and once she saw the twins dart for the lair, she jumped back into the battle.

Cheetara landed in the middle of a group of jackal men and with her speed she managed to knock them all out before they could react. Thanks to her marvelous swiftness the cheetah had remained uninjured, and with her staff had felled dozens of enemy troops already. There was, however, something she knew was working against her: her stamina was running out fast. The female Thundercat, busy blocking and counterattacking the swings of swords and maces all around her, berated herself for not having used her powers to blast the entire enemy army into submission. Suddenly surrounded by a pack of jackal men, Cheetara tried to use another burst of speed, but a swing of a mace got her on the back, breaking her balance and dropping her to her knees. The mace was high and ready to descend but then...

Tygra punched the sneaky monkey man who had hit Cheetara away from her, and used his whip to scorch the mutants around them. The tiger managed to give the cheetah time to get back on her feet and knock out a few more jackals, but it was nothing more than a small, empty victory. The previous hit she had taken had drained Cheetara's strength more than she had expected, and she discovered she would collapse if she tried to run again. An instant's fear at the idea of not being able to move as fast as she must was all the mutants needed to tackle the mighty Cheetara and tie her up, after beating her senseless for the trouble she had caused them.

The tiger, distracted by Cheetara's cries of pain, was quickly hit from the back with the handle of an axe. Disoriented, Tygra tried to fight back, but he was tackled as the cheetah had been and promptly pummeled into an unconscious, bloody mess.

The twins, chased by a large group of mutant warriors, had managed to get inside Cat's Lair unharmed, but found that there was no place to go or hide in the hangar, and that their only option was to scurry through the poorly lit hallways until they reached the armory. To do that, however, the twins needed to open the half collapsed door they'd found which would lead them to the stairwell. Grunting with the effort he exerted, WilyKat pushed on the door with all his might, hoping to slide it open as quickly as possible.

"Close your eyes, Kat!" WilyKit warned as she threw a flash pellet at the fast approaching mutants. "That was my last one, if you're opening the door, make sure it's now!"

Snarling, Kat used the last bit of his strength and somehow, managed to slide the door open just enough for him and his sister to slip past. "Done! Now hurry, there's no time to waste!"

Without a word Kit followed her brother and rushed up the stairs behind him, discovering, at the same time as her twin, that all the doors were closed shut; since the Lair had no power the automatic doors were dead and therefore, impossible for the children to pry open.

"The control room wasn't closed when we escaped," Kat recalled. "Let's go see if we can open the armory from there!"

"Right behind you and we better hurry," an anxious Kit said; behind her, she could hear the cursing of the mutant soldiers and she knew it wouldn't take long for them to bring down the stairwell door.

One mad rush later Kit and Kat entered what was left of the control room and found, after pressing several buttons of the main panel, that the Lair's back up power generator was not working properly, and that it would be impossible for them to open any of the locked doors; the only thing they would be able to do with the little power available was to lock the door from the inside. That little piece of fortune, however, was not enough. The main controls were ruined, and they couldn't make them work, so the chance to reboot the back-up generator in the hopes that it would function properly was out of their reach.

"This is useless!" WilyKat cried, punching the panel as hard as he could. "This piece of junk is as good as dead!"

"The main screen still works..." WilyKit muttered. She had looked back, and found the largest screen still operating somewhat, transmitting intermittent images of what was happening outside the Lair. "Great Jaga... Cheetara, behind you!"

"What's going on?" Kat asked, turning just in time to see how Cheetara was defeated, and how Tygra followed.

WilyKit trembled at the sight in a mix of horror and rage. Why was this happening to them? Why now?

"Panthro and Snarf are still standing!" WilyKat announced hopefully. Panthro was fighting with all of his skill, knocking out a mutant with each of his blows, while Snarf simply kept as close as possible to the enraged panther, clutching the Book of Omens tightly. "He might be able to escape and bring reinforcements!"

"All that matters is that Snarf saves the book," Kit whispered. "Lion-O's still in there..."

The screen showed Panthro being struck by the lucky shot of a Reptilian, falling to the side as he rubbed his jaw. Then, the twins noticed how Panthro appeared to shout orders to Snarf, who nodded and hid under the rubble, vanishing from sight so fast that even the stealthy twins found it incredible.

"Yes!" Kit yelled. "Now Snarf will find a way to get Lion-O out of there!"

"He... he might not be able to..." Kat whispered, his voice filled with sudden despair. "Pummyra had the key and they already captured her."

"Then we'll help Panthro!" Kit proclaimed, but her determination vanished the moment _he_ entered the scene, marching through the battlefield like a demon of war hellbent on destroying everything.

"Mumm-Ra!" WilyKat hissed. "I should've known he was responsible of all this, the mutants aren't smart enough to plan something this big!"

Too shocked by the fierce fight that exploded between Mumm-Ra and Panthro the female twin couldn't find words to reply. Panthro was fighting with such rage and determination it was an almost hypnotic spectacle.

"He's holding his own against the wizard... He-he might win...!" WilyKat predicted. "Panthro has a real chance to defeat Mumm-Ra...!"

The pounding on the door behind them forced both twins to stop looking at the fight. The door started to give way under the fiery assault, making the twins understand that not only had they been found; they also understood that they were completely alone and helpless.

0-0

The dawn after the battle...

The room was almost completely dark, the only source of light being the torch burning near the heavy iron door but this dim light was enough to show how filthy and claustrophobic this humid cell truly was. Here, chained to the rough, rock walls, five Thundercats were struggling against their bindings with what little strength they had left.

"It's useless..." Tygra muttered, dropping like a rock on his knees. "These chains are too strong... they would give us trouble even if we... were at full strength..."

"Where are... the others?" WilyKit asked plaintively. She had been at her brother's side all this time, as Kat was still hurting quite a lot from a serious blow to the shoulder. The girl suffered from a wound on her leg, but she was doing her best to conceal the pain she felt.

"Bengali, Lynx-O and Pummyra were sent to the mines..." Tygra recalled, his voice tired. "Or at least... that's what I heard... they could be dead now... for all we know."

"They're... alive..." WilyKat offered wincing as she lifted his head to speak. "I know they are."

"Try not to move much, brother," Kit advised when she noticed the pain in her twin's bruised face.

"At least... Snarf got away..." Panthro recalled. "He'll keep... the Book of Omens safe until... until we manage to escape."

"But... Pummyra had... the key," Cheetara disputed. "They captured her... I'm sure Mumm-Ra has... the key by now."

"We'll get to that... when we escape..." the panther answered, a determined look still shining on his eyes. "For the time being... we must trust Snarf will keep the Book... and Lion-O, away from that... cursed mummy..."

"...Lion-O should've been here," the cheetah asserted in a low murmur as she wiped the dried blood off her mouth with her left hand, recoiling a little as her wrist touched her bruised lips. "I can't believe... the Book of Omens didn't... warn him..."

" We can't know for... sure," Tygra started, but was interrupted by the sound of the iron door opening.

"I see you're all finally awake," Slithe greeted with a mocking sneer. "I hope you're comfortable, yessss?"

"Come closer and I'll show you how comfortable we are!" Panthro growled.

"Oook! Shut up, Thundercat!" Monkian interrupted as he entered the room. "You have no permission to talk!"

"You can't shut me up, you dirty..." the panther replied, but was quickly silenced by the ape man smashing his head into the wall.

"You'll talk only when Mumm-Ra talks to you!" the ape ordered, chuckling at the rage he saw on his enemy's eyes.

"How considerate, Monkian. Good evening kittens," Mumm-Ra greeted them. The mummy stepped into the room silently, but the grin adorning his face made the twins shiver with fear. "The time has come for us to talk about your future. I imagine you're interested in learning about your punishment for opposing me."

"Unchain me and I'll show you how the Thunderians of the past punished their enemies!" Cheetara snarled, weakly trying to break her chains.

"Now, now, anger will not get you anywhere," the ever-living wizard said in a condescending tone. "And I am here to make a deal with you, won't you listen to my offer?"

"We are not interested in anything you have to say," Tygra countered.

"That's unfortunate, " the mummy crossed his arms and smiled evilly. "I guess then that you are at least interested to know that I have already sent your other three friends to my Thundrainium mines."

"Thundrainium? That stuff is deadly for us!" WilyKat observed, panic filling him as he imagined spending even a day close to the Thunderian-killing mineral.

"A strong, healthy adult can survive it for years," The dark mage sneered. "Is that not correct, architect?"

Tygra pursed his lips, but nodded at the wizard's affirmation.

"It's a shame, then, that all of you will be sent to the mines," Mumm-Ra added as he paced slowly in front of the defeated Thundercats until he stopped in before the terrified twins. "A shame indeed, especially for the children... unless of course, that you're willing to let me take them? It will spare them from the mines but... I won't take them unless you give them up to me."

"We'd rather die than go with you!" WilyKit spat.

"I didn't ask you, little one," Mumm-Ra said, turning to face Tygra and Cheetara. "I'm asking your guardians."

Silence fell on the room then, as the choice of letting the twins fall in the hands of their worst enemy fell on Cheetara and Tygra's shoulders. They both found the choice to be far more difficult than what they had imagined. The two knew that taking the twins to the mines meant they would die in a matter of months, while letting Mumm-Ra take them might entail a fate even worse than death.

"Please... Cheetara, don't... don't let him take us!" WilyKit cried, pressing herself against the wall to avoid Mumm-Ra's touch. "Don't let him!"

"We'll do whatever you want! Just don't send us with him!" WilyKat echoed his sister. "Please, don't listen to him, let us stay with you!"

Cheetara, already in despair and tortured by this choice beyond anything she had experienced up til then, lowered her face and bit her lower lip. Deep in her heart she hated herself for what her mind had already decided; she just couldn't find the words to express her choice.

That was when Tygra spoke.

"WilyKit, WilyKat... if you go to the mines you'll die in less than a year... if you go with him... I'm sure he'll keep you hostage to prevent us from escaping... I know he won't dare hurt you," Tygra explained with a regret-filled voice but after finishing this statement, he glared at the mummy with so much rage that it was as if all traces of the kind person he really was had vanished. "Because he _won't_ hurt you, am I right?"

Mumm-Ra couldn't stop an amused laugh at Tygra's words. "You have the strength to threaten me even after all I've done to you today? You're stronger than I thought, cat! Fine, give me the twins and I'll make sure they're well cared for. But... I think I also need the consent of their other guardian, don't I? So, tell me woman, can I have the children or would you rather keep them with you on the mines? It is all up to you now."

The twins, already shocked at hearing Tygra agree to Mumm-Ra's deal, stared at Cheetara with pleading eyes, hoping she would refuse the warlock's bargain.

But she did not.

"I... I agree with Tygra," She whispered, her face still low. "T-Take the twins, just... just don't hurt them..."

"Wise choice," the mummy said. "A wise choice indeed!"

Mumm-Ra waved his left hand then, causing the chains restraining the twins to dissolve into nothingness. Kit and Kat, weak and unable to believe what the two adults they trusted the most had just done, fell on their knees and couldn't find the will to even lift a finger.

"Slithe, take them to my pyramid," the dark wizard ordered. "Make sure they are... comfortable."

"As you wish, Mumm-Ra. Just don't forget the architect will go to our new Castle Plundarr, we can use his services there."

"Monkian will take him to your castle," the ever-living assured. "Now, the children."

"Yes, you don't have to tell me twice," the reptilian complained while rudely grabbing both twins and carrying them over his shoulder, not even wondering once why the twins didn't so much as speak a word of protest.

The last thing WilyKat saw was Tygra's defeated face. As for his sister, the last thing WilyKit saw was how Cheetara allowed Panthro to hold her, and how she pressed herself against him.

They didn't listen to how Panthro swore he would work for three as he asked Mumm-ra to let Cheetara go to Castle Plundarr instead of the mines or how the panther, after Mumm-ra had agreed to his request, asked Tygra to look after the woman as best as he could.

**-END-**

_Epilogue_,

The next day...

WilyKat and WilyKit, now wearing the white and golden clothes which marked them as Mumm-Ra's servants, stopped at the edge of the door, unwilling to take another step. The golden chains their wrists were cuffed with went taut, and the entity pulling them turned to meet their frightened gaze.

"Afraid, aren't you?" The wizard guessed, his eyes shining bright under the shade of his crimson cape. "Don't be, children, you have nothing to fear. You are, in fact, lucky to be with me."

The twins did not reply and instead stared at the dark room ahead of them. Mumm-Ra's throne room, bathed in shadows which seemed to move and crawl while four tall statues of grotesque creatures surveyed everything with burning eyes. They had entered it before when they had fought alongside Lion-O and the others but now, as Mumm-Ra's servants, the prospect of walking into that hall and spending time there serving their enemy was something they couldn't bear to face.

"The shadows won't harm you," Mumm-Ra assured. "As long as you serve me, nothing inside this pyramid will hurt you, I can assure you that."

"You... you do?" WilyKit asked with a fright-filled whisper.

"You really... promise?" WilyKat added, his voice as low as his sister's.

"Yes kittens, I promise," the mummy swore and, with great satisfaction, smiled sinisterly as the twins took their first step into the dark chamber.

"That's it children, come join me," the immortal approved. "You will learn to like it here. Yes, I'm sure you will."

And as the doors of the Throne room slowly closed behind the twins, the only sound which could be heard was Mumm-Ra's cold and evil laughter reverberating through the dark corridors of the Black Pyramid.

0-0-0-0

Notes:

As usual, special thanks to Adam for beta reading this chapter, he always does an excellent job!

For this one shot, another side story to Embracing Dark Desires, I wanted to expand a little more on what happened to WilyKit and WilyKat before the events featured in _The Return_ miniseries, as well as to give more development to the relationship between Cheetara, Tygra and the twins and showing how they all got separated after losing the battle against Mumm-Ra.

The conversation between WilyKat, WilyKit and Pummyra at the beginning of this story references issue #4 of the _Reclaiming Thundera_ miniseries, where Mumm-Ra kidnaps WilyKat and takes him to his pyramid; as it is shown during the first few paragraphs, Lion-O saved WilyKat after WilyKit told him about the kidnapping, causing a great impression in her.

Likewise, the mention of Lion-O's duel with Grune references issue #5 of the same miniseries, where Lion-O defeated Grune (brought back to life courtesy of Mumm-Ra), cemented his place as king and entered the Book of Omens to train.

The rest of the story takes place between the end of _Reclaiming Thundera_ and the moment Lion-O is pulled out of the Book of Omens; and it covers the events referenced in issue #1 of _The Return_. It also ties with _Preludes to Tragedy: Pummyra_.


End file.
